Kerala - Kochi   

‘Media trial challenges judiciary’

— Photo: Vipinchandran

A discussion: Chief Justice of India K.G. Balakrishnan delivering the fourth K.S. Rajamony Memorial Public Law Lecture in Kochi on Saturday. Rajamony was an eminent High Court lawyer and member of the now-defunct Kerala Public Men’s Corruption Commission.

Kochi: Chief Justice of India K.G. Balakrishnan on Saturday said the tendency of newspapers and news channels to carry unverified reports posed a danger to a free and fair constitutional judicial process.

The manner in which “the modern media and telecommunications” intruded into a person’s life and caused embarrassing and damaging publicity, if left unchecked, would become “alarming.”

Justice Balakrishnan was delivering the fourth K.S. Rajamony Memorial Public Law Lecture on “Constitution, media and courts” here.

The media trial, conveying public opinion in favour of one side or the other, particularly in criminal matters, had become increasingly frequent in recent times. Even before the court trial began, the accused was being shown as guilty.

This questioned the very premise on which the judicial system was based — the right of every party involved in a court proceeding to have his case adjudicated in a free, fair and unbiased manner.

Justice Balakrishnan said the media were a sentinel of democratic freedom.

It was the responsibility of every person associated with the media to act responsibly with a sense of duty towards society and the nation. In fact, journalists were “vigilant watchdogs of civil liberties.” The right of the media to report court proceedings emanated from the right of the citizen to know.

The media also had the duty to report fairly, objectively and accurately. He said the media should be wary of allowing itself to become a vehicle for exerting “mass pressure” as opposed to a “mere expression of mass opinion.”

The former Supreme Court Judge, V.R. Krishna Iyer, stressed the need for a dynamic relationship between the Bar and the Bench.

Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court H.L. Dattu presided. M.R. Hariharan Nair, Ombudsman for local self-governments; Venu Rajamony, Counsel-General of India, Dubai; and R. Balachandran, CMD, S.B. Global, spoke.

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